All donations and other inquiries can be mailed to Gateway Helping Hands .. P.O. Box 316 .. Morehead, Ky. 40351.

To sign up as a volunteer or to contact us in person please drop in for a chat or call: (606) 780-9704 or (606) 780-0332.

Direct deposit is also available by stopping in at Ky. Bank on West First street in Morehead.

Paypal to: moreheadgatewayhelpinghands@gmail.com

We accept in-kind donations by drop off at 204 Morehead Plaza

Financial Summary

Revenue vs Expenses - All Years

Expense Breakdown - Recent Year

Statements

Mission Statement

Our mission is to partner with our community and engage them in our never ending fight against poverty, hunger and total homelessness. Our goal is to prepare at least 1 family member in each of the households we serve for a better life through a higher education and on the job placement within the community. A community is judged by the way they take care of their needy. We can't stop poverty and hunger but we can make a difference one family at a time.

Background Statement

Helping Hands organized in 2009 with an all volunteer Board of Directors. With all moneys donated going into our "food distribution programs" for families and children. We kept our expenses low and the charity has never gone into debt for anything. We found the needs in the community were much bigger than what we had anticipated. We soon added a "dress a child program" and a "winter coats for kids program". As we got to know the needs of the families we served we added a "Christmas with the Children program" and a "job readiness program". Many families were living in poverty due to being under-educated and unable to find well paying jobs. The "ABC Program" (a better community) continues to turn out well trained and higher educated community members. By participating in job training, parenting classes, couponing classes, banking classes, etc. volunteers are getting more than just volunteer hours while helping feed those in need. Over the past 3 years, we have added a "good neighbor program" which allows us to assist clients with utility bills and a "homeless prevention program" which allows us to help those who are at risk of becoming homeless before they end up sleeping in the streets.

Impact Statement

Over the seven years since Helping Hands opened our doors to serve the underprivileged in our community we have accomplished many things. The first month we were open we only had enough food for 30 families. Now are able to feed an average of 250 families every month. In the beginning we provided weekend meals for approximately 75 - 100 low income children every weekend. Then the program was only operated operated while school was in session. Now we operate the program all year long and we are able to provide meals for over 585 children every weekend. For the first 6 years we had two buildings, one for the food pantry and another one for the thrift store/outreach center. The wo buildings together offered approximately 3000 sq. feet of storage. In September of 2016 Helping Hands moved into a huge building previously used as a dental clinic. We now have approximately 4500 square feet of space and lots of room for our food pantry and our thrift store/outreach center both under one roof. We have at least 3 homeless families or individuals coming to us every week. In our new building we have two showers available for the homeless to take showers. In 2014 we acquired free storage in a local warehouse which has really increased the number of donations we can we can gather in to help serve the community. Helping Hands has also added a free school supply program, a free school clothes for kids program, a Christmas with the Children program, a winter coats for kids program and a disaster outreach program. We have only just begun!

Needs Statement

We need financial support to keep these "Help Programs" going. We need food donations for families, veterans, seniors and children. Our Backpack Snack Program feeds over 585 children twice a week in the summer and every weekend when school is in session. We need volunteers with strong bodies and smart minds to do the work that goes along with doing fundraiser and community outreach. We are looking for good business partners to keep donating items for sale in our thrift store.

CEO/Executive Director Statement

Helping Hands gives immediate aid the day a perspective client enters the charity's building. Bing a children's charity, we start gathering baby clothes and other baby items as soon as we hear a client is expecting. Moms and dads receive these free items as soon as the bay is born. We serve low income families with or without children in the home, veterans, seniors, the sick, the elderly and the homeless. We keep a humble waiting room where clients can feel comfortable while receiving assistance. We have been able to reach some very proud veterans and other clients who have never had to visit a pantry before. All work is done by volunteers including the work done by all members of our Board of Directors. Nobody is ever paid to do what we consider God's work. We operate totally on donations from the community and very sparsely written grants.

Board Chair Statement

In 2009 when Helping Hands was organized we voted to be an all volunteer Board of Directors. Shortly after organizing we realized the problems in the community were many and volunteers were few. In order to fill all the needs of low income families we would have to watch every penny. In doing so we made sure we didn't go into debt for anything we needed. We couldn't very well help anyone if we ourselves went into debt and had to close our doors. Finding enough volunteers to keep the work done was hard in the beginning. We soon became partners with several local groups and they were more than happy to help us help others. We have several churches who agree that selfless giving, with no expectation of ever getting anything in return is the only way to serve. helping Hands is well know for our Christian values and our humble hearts. We operate the fastest growing nonprofit in Rowan County. We believe as the Bible says, if a person comes to our door and says they are hungry you give them food. If they ask for drink we should give them something to drink. If they ask for clothing to cover their body we should give them what they need. To meet the immediate need is the only way to operate a charity. No one should go to bed hungry, especially a child in Kentucky.

GoalsHelpWhat is the organization aiming to accomplish? This is the organization's ultimate goal for intended impact.The goal at Helping Hands is to get more food into a food dessert (Rowan County) where so many individuals and families have to frequent a food pantry every month just to survive. With over five thousand residents being food insecure and not having access to enough food to live a healthy life style, our community members need access to healthy foods. There are not enough food pantries to feed that many people. The pantries here are not designed to handle 1,200 people in one month's time. Helping Hands can feed over 1,200 people a month as long as the donations hold up. Also, there are families stuck in the cycle of poverty. Their parents were poor, they remain poor and now their children are living the same way. You learn what you live. Helping Hands is well known for our Christian values. We want to break that cycle of poverty. We can do that by taking at least one member of each family we serve and help them obtain a higher education, obtain better job skills through volunteerism and get a paying or higher paying job. We have already started making a difference. We have had a lot of young adults go through our ABC Program (a better community). We are working with other nonprofits to get the youth of Rowan County into shelters, job training and better jobs. We would like to see these families work and lift themselves up out of poverty. We have only just begun.

StrategiesHelpWhat are the organization's strategies for its stated long-term goals?With the ABC Program, clients or community volunteers are offered volunteer hours, classes and job training through volunteerism. Each volunteer is supervised and evaluated on his/her punctuality, dress codes, safety, how they follow directions and job readiness. When we have a volunteer who needs parenting classes, banking classes, couponing classes, etc., we make sure they get that training. We help the individuals with applications for higher education at Morehead State University or at Maysville Tech. We also help them with job search and refer them out to job interviews. Higher education usually nets better paying jobs. It's a little harder to help the elderly, the sick and the children. We give counseling services to those who need them and help families learn how to budget their cash income as well as their food stamps. We also distribute cook books that help families learn to cook healthy and live on less. We can't end poverty and hunger but we are making a big difference for many families in our community.

CapabilitiesHelpWhat are the organization’s capabilities for doing this? What resources, capacities, and connections support its progress towards long-term goals?By working hand and hand with social workers, registered nurses, schools and other community members we are making headway on breaking the cycle of poverty. Helping Hands is structured to handle feed over 250 families every month and over 585 children every weekend twelve months a year. We have access to over eight hundred square feet of storage. We have a database of over two hundred community volunteers, Board of Directors and university volunteers to draw from to keep all our programs in operation. Our fundraising committee does a fundraiser every month. We are partners with Sigma Phi Epsilon at MSU, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Kappa Sigma. Sig ep does all our backpack snacks and fundraises for that program, Sigma Alpha does all the heavy lifting and unloads all our food and supply trucks and Kappa Sigma does a lot of work and especially building our storage shelves. We have the space, the Board volunteers, the community partners and the structure to keep our programs going.

IndicatorsHelpHow will the organization know if it is making progress? What are the key qualitative and quantitative indicators against which the organization assesses its progress toward its intended impact?We can't reach EVERY hungry person in Rowan County by ourselves but, by working together as a network of nonprofits we can each do our part. We want to help all 250 families who depend on us for food every month become self supportive. We have seen a difference in the number of youth needing our help after they have gone through our ABC Program. They are often replaced by others who come in needing assistance from the programs we offer. The more individuals going through our higher education program and our job training program, the more cash flow in these homes. We know we are making progress when we see our youth and previous clients working at jobs in the community. We are seeing these clients come in for food less often than they did in the past. Rowan County has over 300 totally homeless families. We are helping these homeless with shelter, household items, clothing and food. We want to see our veterans live healthier lifestyles. Many of the veterans are way too proud to come to us and ask for food. We have a referral program in place for local veterans. We work with the social workers and registered nurses at the veteran's clinic to help get them signed up to receive food baskets every month. Our veteran's food service program is a test pilot program to see if these veterans will actually accept assistance. Since we started the program 3 months ago we have served over 35 veterans! We want to be here for the clients in need but we want to see fewer hungry individuals and families in need of assistance.

ProgressHelpWhat has and hasn’t been accomplished so far?We keep hoping our client numbers will go down each month. In order to do this we have to get the people more access to higher education, healthier food and a better lifestyle. During the school semester we help a lot of schools with school clothing for the little kids. We also deliver weekend backpack snacks to low income children through our partnership with the resource counselors in all the schools. Another problem we see is that a lot of grandparents are now having to raise their grandchildren who have been removed from the parent's home. These children are classified as totally homeless. There are over 935 of the children. When these grandparents are already living on fixed incomes. Some only have $650.00 a month coming in, the added mouths they have to feed put them at risk of being homeless. If this grandparent can't get to a food pantry every month the whole family goes hungry. We hear horror stores about grandparents going hungry after giving the last of the food in the home to the children. We must feed these children and families. By giving them access to healthy foods, school clothing, Christmas gifts, etc. The healthier the children grow up, the smarter they are. Healthy bodies equal smarter minds. One huge problem in this county is lack of transportation. this is where out Community Outreach programs come into play. We deliver food, blankets, clothing, personal hygiene items, sleeping bags, tents, etc. as far as thirty miles out in the country to hungry families. When the hungry and hurting can't get to us we will go to them. We are doing all we can to help raise and train better community members. We are making progress on meal and one family at a time.

Operating a nonprofit organization these days is not easy. We are working together with this community to find and feed underprivileged families. Just as the supply of food every month varies so does the number of clients we deal with. Just as the needs in this community can not be numbered, neither can they be met by one organization. By networking with other community agencies we can make life more enjoyable for those coming to us in need.

CEO/Executive Director

Executive DirectorMrs. Wanda Fultz

Term StartAug 2009

Emailwandaf@live.com

Experience

Wanda Fultz attended Morehead State University. Studied business administration and phycology. She started a vey successful small business in 1990 which she sold in 1996. She is co-owner of Fultz' Greenhouses and Nursery for the past 22 years and still is. She knows the ins and outs of running a for profit business as well as a nonprofit.

Co-CEO

Co-CEOMrs. Wanda Fultz

Term StartOct 2009

Emailmoreheadgatewayhelpinghands@gmail.com

Experience

Melanie Reffitt is C-Ceo /Executive Director and receives no compensation

Staff

Full Time Staff0

Part Time Staff0

Volunteers220

Contractors0

Retention Rate0%

Management Reports to Board?Yes

Staff Demographics - Ethnicity

African American/Black0

Asian American/Pacific Islander0

Caucasian5

Hispanic/Latino0

Native American/American Indian0

Other0 0

Staff Demographics - Gender

Male0

Female0

Unspecified0

Formal Evaluations

CEO Formal EvaluationYes

CEO/Executive Formal Evaluation FrequencyAnnually

Senior Management Formal Evaluation FrequencyN/A

NonManagement Formal EvaluationYes

Non Management Formal Evaluation FrequencyQuarterly

Comments

CEO Comments

With the recession in full mode we are having to work even harder and watch every dime just to get by. Our thrift Store is bringing in more income now than when we first opened it a few years ago. Word is getting out in the community that we are helping a lot of people. The more clients we have coming in the more food we need each month. After almost 7 years we are finally on stable ground financially. We have a long list of volunteers and supporters and an even longer list of accomplishments.

DescriptionWe are a disaster resource center and help with emergency food, clothing and household items during times of floods, house fires, etc. Utility assistance program. Homeless prevention program and the ABC program (a better community. Job readiness program with on the job training and volunteerism.

Budget$15,000.00

Category

Population Served, ,

Program Comments

CEO Comments

We are now operating a small thrift store/community outreach center to bring in money for our rent. We have a fundraising committee which does fundraisers at to bring in money of rent, utilities and food. Our finance committee keeps track of all finances. During the tornados in March of 2012 Helping Hands donated over 35 truck loads of disaster relief items to 7 other Kentucky counties. We still operate on donations from the community and a few small grants as we can get them. When there is a shortfall in the finances the members pay the rest.